


The enchanted forest

by bunnysworld



Series: 2014 Holiday Fic tac toe [6]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 2014 Holiday Fic-Tac-Toe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 18:27:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2742611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin takes the guys to witness something marvelous.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The enchanted forest

**Author's Note:**

> For my fic-tac-toe card, the pic with the sparkling forest.
> 
> Thanks Issy for the beta!

„Here, have some mulled wine, Arthur.“ Percy produced a thermos from the backpack he’d been carrying for the past two hours while Merlin had dragged them through the nightly forest. The frozen snow-covered forest. The forest, so thickly covered with snow that it was difficult putting one foot in front of the other at times. And all of that while it was still snowing. Lots of reasons for Arthur to complain about being forced to go on this field trip. 

He pulled the thick gloves off, reached for the mug and pretended to warm his hands on it. If he were honest, he was hot from walking through deep snow in his state-of-the-art outdoors clothes he got for this occasion. Maybe he should have told the sales person that they would just do some hiking on Christmas Eve and not going on an expedition to Antarctica. And maybe he might have exaggerated a few details about the hiking. 

“If you ask me, a trip to the pub could have concluded this night. There’s nothing like a good hang-over on Christmas morning.” Gwaine took his baseball hat off to free the shield from the snow. 

“Come on, Gwaine,” Percy leaned in as he handed him his share of the mulled wine and stole a quick kiss. “It wasn’t that bad. It’s a nice long walk, we all get enough fresh air, so we will sleep peacefully and not disturb Santa from bringing the presents.” 

“Only you still believe in Santa, Percy.” Arthur teased and nudged his friend before he turned to Merlin. “What was it that you wanted to show us?”

Merlin’s eyes were shining and his cheeks were rosy from the cold. Hadn’t he been wearing one of his stupid beanies, Arthur was sure that his ears had the same adorable color as his cheeks. 

“Just wait.”

“What for?”

Merlin looked around. “Soon, just a few more…okay, here it comes.”

They stood and watched as the forest lit up with millions of tiny lights, as if each tree was a giant Christmas tree, sparkling and shining just for them. 

“Whoa…,” Percy whispered in awe and for once, not even Gwaine had a witty remark. 

Arthur couldn’t take his eyes of the breath-taking spectacle either, his too-warm clothes and the exhausting hike forgotten. Merlin stepped closer and wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist, leaning against him.

After about five minutes, in which they stood unmoving, just enjoying the view, the lights slowly died down and the only light once again came from the full moon. 

Neither man said a word as they slowly finished their now-cold mulled wines and packed the mugs back into the rucksack. 

Gwaine was the first to break the silence as they started to walk back. “How did you do that, Merlin?”

“I didn’t do this. It’s been here for centuries. Just one night in December, on the night of the full moon, this part of the forest lights up like this. It’s ancient magic.”

“How come nobody ever noticed it? It was pretty light, someone must have seen before.” Percy shifted the weight of the backpack a bit.

Merlin shook his head. “It requires magic to be able to see it.”

“But we aren’t magic.” Arthur looked at Merlin. “Did you enchant us? And it wasn’t really there? We just believed we saw that? Like a mass hallucination?”

Merlin chuckled. “No enchantment, Arthur. You just needed a magical being around to be able to see it.” He came close and looked at Arthur with those incredibly blue eyes of his. “Did you like it?”

“It was beautiful. Thank you for showing us.” Arthur leaned over and put a quick kiss on Merlin’s lips.

He was in a much better mood as they walked back through the snow hand in hand.


End file.
